Natalya is the so-called gatekeeper of the WWE who’s been with the company for over 15 years now. Even if she retires from active competition, chances are high that she won’t be leaving the WWE and will get involved with them in a different role. Already, her husband TJ Wilson works as a backstage producer in the WWE for the past few years.
Being the most veteran female talent in the WWE, Natalya is called for TV appearances across the brand including the NXT brand. Recently, the Smackdown roster member had a short trip down to WWE’s third brand similar to how a couple of more main roster appeared there. The likes of AJ Styles, Dolph Ziggler, Apollo Crews, Dominik Mysterio, and Robert Roode have such opportunities.
Veteran WWE Divas Champion Once Rebuked For Having A ‘Too Good’ Match
While speaking with the After the Bell podcast with Corey Graves, the former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion revealed which current woman, according to her stood out amongst the other talents that are working across the WWE Performance Center.
“Loved working with Cora [Jade]. I thought she was awesome. She was so open to like, learning and trying different things and just being more aggressive, and just being like, vulnerable, and the second that she found herself more vulnerable and open to showing that vulnerability, especially in front of the world, people really started to feel something for her,” Natalya praised.
WWE called up Natalya on NXT to get involved in a feud with Cora Jade and elevate the latter’s status in the first place. On the May 10th edition of NXT 2.0, she defeated Jade in a match that lasted for almost 15 minutes, forcing her to pass out to the Sharpshooter. Apparently, this finish was copied from Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 in a No Disqualification Submission Match.
WWE NXT Had Reported Different Plans For New Women’s Tag Team Champions
Natalya also praise Tiffany Stratton and Nikkita Lyons
Moving on in the interview, Natalya shed light on another young talent in Tifanny Stratton. Going by her social media accounts, Nattie thought that she was more of just a model. But then she changed her opinion about the 23-year-old lady after working on NXT 2.0,
“This girl is a model. She’s pretty — she got hired because she’s pretty’,” Natalya said. “I had a practice with her. I had a private session with like, 10 women from NXT. I went back home and I said to TJ, my husband, I said, ‘Tiffany is really good.’ I was like, ‘I really like Tiffany. I think she’s got something about her’.”
Apart from feuding with Cora Jade, the Queen of Harts also wrestled another emerging talent in Nikkita Lyons where the latter picked up the win with Jade against the team of Nattie and Lash Legend. Per the former Smackdown Women’s Champion, Lyons is someone who is very easy to work with in the ring.
“Another one that really impressed me was Nikkita [Lyons]. Nikkita was like, so easy to work with. She was open to learning, she wanted to try different things … Lash Legend, I was like, we had a match together and she like, did some stuff that impressed me … Of course, you know, I’m a huge fan of Io,” quipped Natalya. (quotes courtesy Wrestling INC)
